


Loving You

by foodaddict



Series: Missed Connections [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Reylo - Freeform, Smut, Some Plot, Some angst, Valentine's Day, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2019-03-20 19:19:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13724298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foodaddict/pseuds/foodaddict
Summary: Sequel toReaching You.A lovers’ getaway in Takodana.---At the first brush of Rey’s lips, Kylo froze, the shock of first contact sparking a sizzle of heat that burned hotter with each successive touch as she moved down the length of his throat. One of her hands slid over his chest, settling pointedly over the hard thumping of his heart. He tilted his chin down, taking in the purposeful look on her face.





	Loving You

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! First of all, I did not plan to extend this story. I even waffled a bit about posting it—I put it up then took it down because in the span of a day I went back and forth over whether it would be a good idea to post a Sequel when the Prequels to _Reaching You_ aren’t wrapped. But since you guys gave _Reaching You_ such a lovely response and I ended up writing this anyway, I finally came back to the decision to post it, after all. Sorry for the flip-flopping! And thank you to everyone who was so nice when this was first posted—I promise not to take this down ever again! I didn’t even think to screencap your lovely comments and kudos before my OCD took over and I just compulsively deleted the thing. Every time I think about it, I want to die. Forgive me! 
> 
> For first-time readers, I do recommend reading _Reaching You_ before you read this, because this takes place after the events in that fic. But you can totally read this as a stand-alone if you proceed from an “established relationship” point of view. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Consider this a belated Valentine’s Day treat! Apologies for any typos/errors I might have missed.

            Kylo Ren had only ever been in Takodana in the spring, when the forests were carpeted with a blue mist and flowers swayed along the slopes of the soaring mountains towards one of the country’s multitudes of lakes. The first time, he’d come to see the ruins, enthralled as any child would be by thought of discovering secrets of peoples long lost. He’d found whispers and shadows, sensed an alien presence that had unnerved and intrigued him, but the wonder had fled with age. So he’d abandoned the ruins in favor of the land itself, in the breadth and beauty of it.

 

            It was an old, quiet place. The kind of place that people went to in order to forget—or be forgotten. It felt like a place that the world consciously left alone, despite the presence of technology. The air was still and crystal clear, illuminated by the kind of alpine brightness that was only possible in winter. The trees were buried in several inches of snow, the lakes dappled silver in the moonlight. Settlements were bundled along the edges of the frozen water, the cheerful yellow lights inviting everyone from afar to seek shelter and enjoy a glass of rare, Takodanan whiskey. Kylo took a deep breath, savoring the crisp, cold air heavily laden with the smell of pines.  

 

            Beside him, Rey Kenobi was trying not to cry. He’d seen the bright eyes, the wobble of her lip when they’d stopped to take in the view, and he could imagine the cause. So rather than cuddle her and ask her what was wrong, he kept his eyes on the singular landscape, holding her hand and running his thumb soothingly over the arch between her thumb and forefinger. Absently, he wished that it wasn’t so cold that they had to wear gloves. He didn’t mind the temperature, really, but Rey chilled easily. It was to be expected of someone who grew up on Jakku—much like being overwhelmed by the wonder of seeing lakes, mountains, and forests swathed in a regal mantle of frost.

 

            A bird chuckled from somewhere in the heavy patch of moss behind them. Rey tensed, her head jerking around instinctively. Wildlife was not friendly in Jakku and she was generally wary of animals that weren’t safely contained within the four corners of her computer screen. Then the ridiculous looking thing waddled out into the glow of their lanterns, fat and feathery down to its little legs, its tail poking up strangely.

 

            “What _is_ that?” she asked Kylo, her voice rich with laughter.

 

            “Grouse,” Kylo said with a smile, pleased to see the tears drying up as she became absorbed in her appreciation of the local fauna.

 

            “It’s kind of cute, isn’t it?” Rey cooed, letting go of Kylo as stepped tentatively towards the bird, hoping not to scare it off. It seemed like its destination was the way they came—down the relatively sleep mountainside towards the cluster of lakes. The rough road that led up to their little viewing deck ended where they were standing, as if the locals knew that most people wouldn’t bother moving farther once they saw the splendor of the lakes already laid out beneath them. Kylo had agreed to take her up to see the view once their inn’s proprietress had sworn that the best winter views were at night.

 

            Now Rey was delighted for a whole new reason, though she had only a vague idea of what to do with it once she actually caught up to the grouse.

 

            “For food, sure,” came Kylo’s matter-of-fact response.

 

            Rey stopped short in her pursuit of the grouse, straightening and turning towards him with wide, wide eyes. “You _eat_ that?”

 

            Kylo had that look on his face that used to piss her off royally—half-tender, half-amused. It seemed second-nature for him to try and conceal it, but his expressive face gave him away. Of course, she’d misrecognized the tenderness and seen only the amusement before, so she’d always come away with the sense of being mocked and belittled by him.

 

            “Now and then. A little too gamey for my liking, but they’re something to hunt.”

 

            “You _hunt_ that?” Rey gasped, indignant on behalf of the little, fluffy ball of feathers. Then, before Kylo could respond, her mind narrowed in on a more basic, bewildering detail. “You _hunt?”_

 

            Kylo’s shoulders lifted in a shrug and the lightness of the evening disappeared as he answered, his face a mask of studied inscrutability. “I used to.”

 

            This was the Kylo Ren that Rey was more familiar with—the one she’d known for over a year before everything had changed. Aloof, closed off—simply _beyond_ her. It cut as deeply now as it used to, having him suddenly pull himself back, but at least now Rey understood that he did it because she’d come too close to something he didn’t want her to see, not because he was repelled by her. So she gave him a wobbly smile and a soft, non-committal response.

 

            “Oh.”

 

            Kylo cursed himself inwardly, feeling like a bastard for the shortness he’d treated her with and the obvious hurt it had caused her. It wasn’t her fault that her questions about grouse had led to him thinking about Han Solo and the boyhood bonding activities that the man had insisted he participate in. If he hadn’t wanted to remember what it was like to hunt grouse with his father, he probably shouldn’t have brought Rey somewhere as haunted with memories as Takodana.

 

            Before he could overthink it, he crossed the distance between them, pulling her flush against him and bringing his mouth down to hers. She melted against him, her body sinking into his torso and dipping into the curve of his supportive arm as her mouth opened beneath his and she let him taste, the flavor of her drowning out the bitterness that had crept into him moments before. Contrition sweetened the passion, and he kissed her until the guilt was dissolved in desire, until her fingers were knotted in his hair and her legs were locked around his waist.

 

            It was Rey who broke the kiss.

 

            “We should get back,” she whispered, her breath puffing out in hot wisps. Even in the limited light he could see that her pupils were blown out with want and her face was flushed.

 

            She shifted against him, moving to put her feet back down on the ground and Kylo groaned as the movement brought the apex of her thighs into electrifying contact with his crotch. Rey was biting her lip, laughter and lust making her eyes twinkle like stars. She must have seen something in his narrowed gaze because she danced back before he could grab her, giggling at his frustrated growl. She picked up her discarded lantern—his own was several feet away—and swung it upwards so that it shone painfully into his eyes.

 

            “I’m going to make you pay for that,” Kylo half-threatened, stomping over to retrieve his light.

 

            “Well, the sooner we get there, the sooner you can,” Rey mocked sweetly. “It’s only . . . was it an hour and a half that it took us to get up here?”

 

            Kylo straightened, taking in the sight and sound of her needling him and letting it become resolve. Bundled up in the heavy white snow gear, she still managed to look delicious. He vaguely contemplated tackling her into the snow, getting her so hot that it melted, having her cries fill the night air . . .

 

            “Don’t you _dare_ ,” Rey warned, sensing _exactly_ what he was thinking as he contemplated her.

 

            Kylo’s voice was a wicked purr. “Get moving, sweetheart—I’ll even let you have a head start.”

 

            Laughter, horror, and excitement tangled up in Rey’s throat and she set off without another word, rushing down the slope, the lantern swinging wildly in her hand.

 

            “Careful!” Kylo’s admonition sounded entirely too close, though when she turned to look back she saw from the light in his hand that he hadn’t yet begun to chase her.

 

            “I don’t want to let you catch me!” Rey shouted back, though she did slow down.

 

            “Oh, of course you do!”

 

            “If you do what I think you want to do, your bits will freeze off!”

 

            She thought she heard him laugh and suddenly she wished she was closer, close enough to hear the rich, rusty sound and see his face crinkle up in surprised delight. Everything about his stern, somber features was beloved to Rey, but it was a unique pleasure to see his boyish, crooked grin and see his dark eyes sparkle with mirth. She stopped running, the sense of wistfulness overwhelming her, and she turned to watch as her tall, handsome lover loped down towards her, a dramatic shadow against the snow.

 

            There was still a ghost of a laugh lingering on the curve of his mouth when he reached her and took her hand.

 

            “Well, we can’t have that, can we?”

 

*

 

            “One more mince pie, sweetheart?”

 

            Rey flushed at the teasing question, ducking her head as she took a sip of her tea and shot Kylo a mock glare. He’d ordered her peppermint tea halfway through their meal and now Rey knew why—she’d started in on dinner an hour before and now her stomach was complaining as it tried to process the Christmas feast that Kylo had set out before her. It was a way of coping with the pain to recall how much she’d enjoyed the pigs in blankets, the roasted brussel sprouts and parsnip chips, the damson cheese heaped on top of blue cheese and crumbly crackers, the tatie pot and black pudding, the small mound of mince pies, and some (or rather “half”) of Kylo’s dessert.

 

            “More of my sticky toffee pudding then?”

 

            Rey stuck out her tongue at him, grinning with delight when it made him laugh, and as she carefully sipped more of the palliative tea she took the time to bask in the sight of him laughing under the golden lights.

 

            Once a coach house adjacent to the inn, low-ceilinged dining hall was toasty enough for them to take most of their winter gear off. Kylo’s raven hair curled loosely around the top of his maroon turtleneck, the heavy waves burnished by the antique gas lamps and wood-burning stoves that provided the hall with heat and illumination. The inn was at full capacity in view of the season, but the kindly old waitress had managed to find them a snug corner where they had a sense of privacy. If her stomach didn’t hurt so much, Rey would have scooted closer and kissed him.

 

            Kylo’s recognized the look on her face, the way her eyes lingered on his mouth and her lips parted, the cloud of want making her features soft with need. She would always be beautiful to him, but in the warm light, with her cheeks pink from the fresh air and her hair down around her shoulders, she looked so fetching that he almost leaned across the table to do what they both wanted. Then her brows knotted and she took a healthy gulp of her tea, her breath weaving in and out slowly.

 

            Burying his smile in a forkful of sticky toffee pudding, Kylo made a mental note to stop presenting Rey with so much food in one go. While he liked to sample and linger, his girl went at every meal like it would be her last, chowing down with the delightful gusto of a gourmand. It was one of those funny, adorable little quirks that managed to make his chest ache with a foreign tenderness that he couldn’t begin to understand or cope with.

 

            He had some idea of what it had been like for her to grow up in a wasteland like Jakku. It didn’t surprise him that she was always hungry, always looking for something to nibble on or looking forward to what she could nibble on next. Only that morning, a few bites into her plateful of bacon and eggs, she’d lit up at him mentioning Christmas dinner.

 

            Kylo could admit to deriving some strange pleasure from feeding her and introducing her to new food, but when she invariably ended up with a stomachache some of the satisfaction ebbed.

 

            Especially since he wanted to do more than feed Rey that night.

 

            He’d found release just that morning, that hot, hungry little mouth on his cock, but since that smoldering night in their snowed-in dormitory there had been few chances to be inside her again. She’d been too sore for days after and he’d been preoccupied with arranging their impromptu trip. When they’d arrived the day before after a twelve-hour flight and three-hour train ride, they’d crawled straight into their bed and gone to sleep. _This_ day had been spent sightseeing. As he had expected, Rey had tumbled straight into love with the Takodana scenery and they’d spent all day—and some hours of the evening—outside.

 

            Kylo didn’t mind—half the reason he’d brought her to Takodana was because he knew it would make her happy, after all. But he was sure that she’d be feeling the strain of so much running up and down the snow-covered fells. It was really for the best that he kept her in bed for the next little while.

 

            Though she was unaware of the lecherous turn of Kylo’s thoughts, Rey _was_ feeling a little tightness here and there that clued her into the incoming muscle soreness. Of course, her stomachache made the twinges inconsequential, but from experience she knew she’d be wincing in a few hours.

 

            “Do you happen to have Advil?” she asked Kylo, wishing she’d thought to bring some. Then again, “packing” for this trip had involved Kylo dragging her to an endless chain of stores to pick out clothing and shoes and suitcases. When she’d refused out of terror and a degree of pride, he’d shrugged and pointed out that he would be buying things anyway—at least if she picked, she could be sure that she liked them.

 

            Kylo shook his head, his eyes flicking over her in sharp assessment. “If your stomach hurts that badly, the fix isn’t Advil. I can go look for some Pepto.”

 

            “I think the tea is doing the trick for that.” It was working remarkably well, actually. She already felt like she could get up without tipping over. “I just think that I’m going to be feeling all the exercise in my legs in a little while and I want to get ahead of it.”

 

            For some reason, she thought that he was going to smile. Before she could ask or look at him more closely, he suggested something that she’d never done before.

 

            “You could just soak in the tub.”

 

*

 

            Rey leaned back against the door, taking a deep breath to calm herself as excitement hummed through her.

 

            The bathroom looked like it had once been a bedroom, with the same wide, farmhouse windows on one wall only partially concealed by some fine gauze. What had likely been a closet had been converted into a private space to conceal the toilet. A heavy wooden counter had been set near the door, atop a polished but well-worn cupboard, a pair of ivory washstands sitting beneath the arching, copper and glass mirror that looked like it had been hung to reflect the light from outside. It was the kind of bathroom that made using facilities a treat, if that was even possible, and nothing in that bathroom delivered that message more loudly than the gigantic clawfoot tub that had been placed in the center of the room.

 

            Rey had been intrigued by it when she’d first gone in, but when the time came to wash up she’d simply stood and showered, a little intimidated by the thought of wasting so much water on something as indulgent as a bath. She’d never drawn a bath in her life. For as long as she could remember, she’d known only the functional utility of a shower, even after leaving Jakku.

 

            The inn had provided them with some bath salts, among other luxurious items in their kit. Rey had discreetly sneaked some of the heavenly lavender bar soap into her bag already, but in the spirit of indulgence—and knowing that she was going back to shower stands once she got back to campus—she emptied the small pouch of bath salts into the bath and squatted down next to the tub to watch as the gleaming copper pipes poured steaming water over the crystals.

           

            Her first step into the scalding water almost had her hopping back out, but she grit her teeth and slowly lowered herself back down, a long, gusty sigh escaping her as the water enveloped her. The heat seemed to sink into her very bones, dissolving them in a sensation that was somewhere between pleasure and pain, and she slumped against the back of the tub, closing her eyes and letting her mind go quiet.

 

*

 

            The phone rang about ten minutes after Kylo had settled against the headboard on his side of the bed. Narrowing his eyes at the vintage handset, he shut the book in his hand and climbed to his feet, feeling something in his stomach knot as he walked over to answer.

 

            “Yes?” he said tersely.

 

            “Good evening, sir,” came the smooth, somewhat apologetic voice on the other line. “We received yet another phone call from Mr. Hux a few minutes ago. We told him you were out, as instructed, and he asked us to please ask that you check your e-mail.”

 

            Kylo took a deep breath as a barrage of emotions hurtled through him, foremost the one that tempted him to hurl the receiver against the wall. Reminding himself that Rey was merely a door away, unwinding and enjoying, he bit down on the violence and instead forced out a stiff acknowledgement and statement of gratitude before he hung up.

 

            He had been expecting this. It had been the daunting specter in the back of his mind as he’d pulled together their Takodana trip, promising pain if Kylo did not heed it.

 

            Discarding the book on the bed, he walked to the quaint chest of drawers where he’d stashed their electronics. He pulled his slim laptop from its sleeve, settled on one of the comfortably rickety chairs by the wooden stove, and booted it up.

 

            The few seconds it took for it to automatically connect to the WiFi and sync up had several applications popping up on his screen. He shut down the messaging apps that were simply desktop versions of those on his phone, knowing things would spiral if he started answering those messages. He logged on to his private e-mail account—the one only Hux, Phasma, and four other people knew about—and checked his messages.

 

            There were three: one from Phasma and two from Hux.

 

            _Why can’t I reach your phone? You need to call me at once—as soon as you read this._

 

            It was amazing, how much two sentences could convey. Kylo could already hear Hux’s nagging voice in his head. Phasma’s message was, as usual, less irritating but more troubling.

 

            _The Supreme Leader called me to ask how you are and why you didn’t go home for the holidays. Is there anything you want me to tell him?_

 

            _Nothing that wouldn’t be disastrous,_ he thought grimly. Though a part of Kylo wondered if it was too late for that. He’d known that Snoke would have questions about Kylo’s decision to stay away over the holidays. They didn’t exactly celebrate or spend “quality time” with one another during breaks, but since coming into Snoke’s care Kylo had always honored the unspoken obligation to keep up appearances. He’d learned early on that managing to live with Snoke involved keeping as few secrets as possible, never giving the man reason to suspect anything. So he’d made it a point to visit his guardian dutifully to inform him of what progress he’d been making and what he planned to do next, if only to let the man go on believing that he still had Kylo firmly under his control.

 

            There just hadn’t been a way to tell Snoke about Rey. Every fiber of Kylo’s being had rioted at the thought of exposing the part of him that was Rey’s to Snoke, of letting the man see just how deeply she had entrenched herself inside him. It had been easy to pretend, to suppress it whenever he was in his guardian’s company, but after what had happened with Rey that winter it seemed impossible.

 

            In hindsight, Kylo knew he had foolishly allowed himself to be swept away. His moodiness had always been a problem, and it was what had gotten him into this fix now. If he hadn’t chafed at the thought of spending another stifled, empty Christmas with Snoke, bursting at the seams with recriminations and resentment, he wouldn’t have wound up stranded alone with Rey. If he had controlled himself better, hadn’t let himself jump heedlessly at that opportunity, he wouldn’t have gotten so mired in his infatuation with her that he’d forget the caution he’d learned in the long, painful years past.

 

            Then again, he wouldn’t have known what it was like to feel her come undone in his arms, to have her fall sleep beside him and wake to find her watching. He wouldn’t have known what it was like to know she felt for him, to know what it was like to have the feelings he’d kept buried dragged out into the light and affirmed.

 

            Kylo closed his eyes, focusing on his breathing. It was done. There was no point wishing he’d been more careful—especially since he could not bring himself to regret what he’d done since it had brought him Rey. He had to focus on going forward, on what was coming. What he could still control.

 

            He opened his eyes and read Hux’s latest message, then promptly typed a reply.

 

*

 

            The muffled ring of a telephone caused Rey to stir.

 

            It felt strange to move, as it often did whenever she’d slept too long, though she hadn’t been asleep and it couldn’t have been past half an hour because the water was still warm. Sitting up a little straighter, she blinked blearily around her, amazed at how transformative an experience it was to have a bath. She lifted her arms out of the water, watched her skin prickle with goosebumps and stared with fascination at her pruny fingertips.

 

            It was one of those moments when Rey wrestled with the urge to pinch herself. It had been happening quite often since she’d tiptoed around her dormitory in the dark, only to find that she wasn’t alone.

 

            Had it really just been a week ago?

 

            Somehow, seven days later, she had lost her virginity, left the country for the first time, hiked up a mountain for the first time, and had her first ever soak in a bathtub.

 

            All incredible firsts, but she would be lying if she thought that the latter items on that list compared to the first—life-changing baths not excepted.

 

            It was still surreal to her, the fact that she was Kylo Ren’s . . . “lover” was really the only way to put it. Rey didn’t want to flounder past that yet. It was too soon and she was still coping with how strange and wonderful it was, how her feelings zoomed from delirium to disbelief to debilitating fear.

 

            She swirled the water in front of her with her foot, wondering if Kylo would make love to her again that night. They’d been plenty intimate since that first time, learning each other’s bodies and what the other liked. Only that morning she’d woken up with him spooning her. She’d come fully awake only when he’d had three wicked fingers buried inside her as he’d suckled on her throat, making her see stars.

 

            Yet as burning as that closeness was, she could admit to herself that it didn’t compare to the feeling of having him inside her.

 

            They’d been too tired the night before. That morning, Rey had been hoping—at least when her brain started working—that he’d simply lift her leg and take her. Instead he’d simply licked his fingers and whispered “good morning.” He’d let her clamber on top of him and return the favor though, and as the memory of him grabbing her hair and hollering filled her mind, a notion began to form on its heels.

 

            Why did it have to be him to initiate anything? He was likely being considerate, taking it easy on her. She hadn’t exactly been in the best of moods when she’d woken up the day after her first time, in so much pain that it had taken a whole morning of apologetic cuddling to get her to speak to him.

 

            Rey gripped the edges of the tub, pulling her knees in as her toes scrabbled to find a firm grip.

 

*

 

>             _And what we students of history always learn is that the human being is a very complicated contraption and that they are not good or bad but are good and bad and the good comes out of the bad and the bad out of the good, and the devil take the hindmost._

 

            Kylo had read the sentence seven times by the time that Rey stepped out of the bathroom. He glanced up at the shift in the light, his mind tangled up in the words, in the future, in the past. But when he saw her silhouetted against the door, her shape peaking through the hideous oversized t-shirt she liked to wear to bed, his mind stuttered and went blank.

 

            Rey had intended to enter with a flourish, to kick off her grand seduction with enough camp to cover her nerves and embarrassment at having to do this for the first time. But then she’d swung open the door and something about the tableau before her had hit her as being wrong.

 

            There were shadows in his eyes again.

 

            Kylo was leaning against the headboard, the picture of a relaxed gentleman: turtleneck and shoes off, shirt loosened, book in his hands. But the tension in the lines around his mouth and those deep, dark eyes told the real story.

 

            She stepped forward hesitantly, gaining confidence only when his eyes focused on her face and followed her as she moved towards him. Plan discarded, she moved on instinct, climbing onto their bed and crawling over so that she was pressed up against his side. He moved to accommodate her, his arm lifting and settling over her back.

 

            “What are you reading?” she asked, glancing at the worn tome in his hands. She picked up a faint, musty smell and wrinkled her nose.

 

            “ ‘All the Queen’s Men’,” Kylo supplied readily, his voice muffled because he’d decided to nose at her hair, intoxicated by the heady, herby smell of her bath.

 

            “Is it any good?”

 

            Rey was genuinely curious. She could appreciate a good story, but there always seemed to be something more important or interesting to do than read. Unless it was a training manual or thesis, she didn’t feel compelled to pick it up. It had been another source of tension, before—the fact that Kylo was so much more well-read than her. He was the kind of person who could rattle off a list of the best books he’d read in the last year.

 

            Other than the course-related work she had been assigned, Rey didn’t have a list of books she’d read in the last year, much less a list of the best ones.

 

            While she still felt somewhat embarrassed at having to admit and draw attention to her unfamiliarity with great literature, she took assurance from the way Kylo seemed to actually consider his answer to her question. When he answered, his velvety voice was thoughtful; quiet but loaded with things he wasn’t ready to say.

 

            “It’s illuminating.”

 

            Resting her head on his shoulder, she settled more comfortably against him. “Tell me about it.”

 

            As he narrated what had taken place before the point that he had reached, Rey listened carefully, turning the words around in her mind to see where and how they fit. It wasn’t the story so much as what Kylo saw in it that she was looking at, and the picture formed slowly as Kylo went from merely retelling what he had read to actually reading to her.

 

            The story was both terrible and good, and somehow the fact that it was good made it more terrible. There was something compelling about the writing, about the themes that had been put on display. Clearly, it resonated with Kylo—though exactly _why_ she didn’t know, she could begin to imagine. He saw something of himself in the writing, in the horrible, confused, conflicted, unfortunate people who lived in the book. The need to reassure him, to tell him that he was _not_ consigned to their probable fates, buzzed loudly inside her head.

 

            At the same time, the clamor in her brain was muffled by a blanket of self-consciousness that Rey feared she would never lose when it came to Kylo. She couldn’t bring herself to speak—not in ignorance of what he was going through, not when she wasn’t exactly the most gifted with words. So she lay curled against him, caught in an agony of indecision as his soft, sibilant voice drew out the story in her mind.

 

            When the chapter ended with one character admitting to her crushing fall from virtue, Rey decided she’d had enough and the buzzing finally overcame her fears.

 

            Kylo was obviously upset by the revelation—there was a tension in his body that spoke almost as articulately as the sullen cast of his features. Making a mental note to burn the stupid book the first chance she got, Rey turned her face upwards and began pressing kisses against Kylo’s jaw, trying to soothe him in a way that she knew would reach him more eloquently than anything she might ever say just then.

 

            At the first brush of Rey’s lips, Kylo froze, the shock of first contact sparking a sizzle of heat that burned hotter with each successive touch as she moved down the length of his throat. One of her hands slid over his chest, settling pointedly over the hard thumping of his heart. He tilted his chin down, taking in the purposeful look on her face.

 

            “Don’t you want to know what happens next?” His voice was even, but huskier than it had been a moment before.

 

            Rey smirked up at him, then scraped her teeth against his collarbone. “You need to get your eyes checked. I can distinctly see the words ‘To be continued’ right there.”

 

            Though he knew she was joking, Kylo glanced at the page, giving Rey the chance to push the book from his hands, to let it tumble off the bed onto the floor. Kylo barely noticed because in one smooth move she was straddling him, smiling down at him with a challenging arch of her brows. His breath caught, his hands automatically latching onto her warm, smooth thighs.

 

            Rey leaned down, her hands sliding up his chest in a sinuous movement that had Kylo arching against her, meeting her hungry mouth with his eager one. Her fingers tangled in his hair just as his hands moved up her thighs, and they both gasped when he discovered that she wasn’t wearing underwear. She bucked helplessly against his hand and he groaned as her tight muscles fluttered against his fingers, slippery with welcoming heat.

 

            Then her hands twisted sharply in his hair, shocking him into pausing. She lifted her head, her eyes dark with something that made him shiver.

 

            “My way tonight,” she rasped, her fingers gentling and rubbing over the stings. Her eyes were the sharp, golden-green of a predator. “Hands at your sides.”

 

            Kylo obeyed, every muscle knotting in sweet, electrifying anticipation as she settled on top of him, rewarding him with a swift kiss before moving busily down his throat once more. She yanked impatiently at his shirt, popping buttons heedlessly as she went, and Kylo let his head fall back and let her ravish him.

 

            It was heady, being the one in control. Rey reveled in the jump of his muscles beneath her touch, the hiss of his breath as she suckled and nipped. Was this what it felt like when he did it to her?

 

            _No wonder you like this so much_ , she thought just as she laved the taut surface below his navel and he moaned. He had lifted his head again to watch her, his eyes glittering with lust, narrowing with impatience.

 

            Rey grinned, unbuttoning his trousers. Their morning had been particularly instructive as to his pleasure—and enlightening as to her own preferences. She had never expected to like sucking him off, never imagined that she would relish the feel and taste of him heavy over her tongue, never conceived that her cunt would throb as sharply as it had with every bob of her head.

 

            This time she watched him, watched as his knuckles went white as he gripped the sheets, watched as he threw his head back and bared his white throat, marked by her kisses. This time she knew to try and relax her throat, to breathe slowly through her nose as she tried to fit more of him in.

 

            When Rey lifted her mouth off him, Kylo couldn’t help the whine. He had been so _close_ , so lost in the sensation. He reached for her without thinking, but she slithered back, pinning him with a dark look.

 

            “I told you to keep your hands down,” she snapped. Her mouth curled into a smirk that had just a hint of cruelty about it when he lowered his hands hastily back to his sides. Once again, she rewarded him for his obedience—this time by straightening up and whipping her shirt over her head.

 

            Kylo’s mouth went dry as he devoured the sight of her, the sleek, toned planes of muscle sloping into gentle curves, the deep pink nipples that crowned her pert little breasts. She crawled up over him, stopping to plant a hand next to his head. Palming her left breast, she lifted it up so that it was within an inch of his lips.

 

            “Suck,” she commanded, hissing when he latched hungrily onto her nipple. God, the man had such a _mouth._ She arched as he suckled her, ground her hips down against his hard stomach, utterly consumed by the sensation that was shooting from her breasts down to her core.

 

            God, she was _wet._

 

            She was straining against him, humping almost gracelessly and crying out with every draw of his lips, teeth, and tongue. Unable to help himself any longer, Kylo reached up, pinching her neglected right nipple just as he nipped the left one hard.

 

            Rey came with a shocked scream, the orgasm jolting through her so sharply that her vision went white. She clutched Kylo’s head to her breast, heedless of whether she was hurting him, absorbed in the explosive release.

 

            When she recalled herself, she was slumped over Kylo, her breathing rattling in her own ears as his large hands swept up and down her back. Rey raised her head, her eyes were bright and slitted with equal parts irritation, satisfaction, and kindling want. “I’m going to get you for that.”

 

            “Go on then,” Kylo goaded, his blood roaring in his ears. He was so aroused that his cock was straining against his belly. He wanted to roll over, to pin her beneath him and take his own pleasure, but something inside—something deeper—wanted something more.

 

            He wanted her to take him.

 

            Rey rose to the challenge, pushing off his chest. She was glorious, her skin slick and glowing with a sheen of perspiration, still flushed from passion. Her nipples had darkened from his attentions and her hair hung down to her shoulders in a dark, fiery veil. She reached between them and took his heavy shaft in her small hand, pulling it carefully into alignment with her dripping cunt.

 

            Kylo cursed viciously as Rey sank down slowly over the hypersensitive head of his cock, mewling as she took him deeper inch by spectacular inch. She bit her lip and her breath snagged as the delicious fullness gave way to distinct discomfort. Her lashes fluttered and she frowned as it came to her that he wasn’t fully inside her yet.

 

            “Go on, sweetheart,” Kylo coaxed, settling a heavy hand over her hip as he let his head drop down against the pillows, the feel of her stretched to the rim around him making him almost mindless. “Jesus, _take it all._ ”

 

            “I can’t,” Rey said at length, releasing her lower lip from her teeth. She bore down a little and winced as the pressure hedged against pain. “You’re too big.”

 

            Kylo’s eyes opened and his lips curved into a lazy smirk as his hand slid from her hip to where they were joined. His thumb fluttered over the swollen nub at the apex of her thighs and Rey whimpered, canting her hips as her muscles squeezed him irrepressibly.

 

            “Come on, Rey,” Kylo demanded, his jaw tight from fighting against the waves of pleasure that washed over him from her movements. “Fuck me.”

 

            Rey moaned, shifting downwards to chase the feeling as his clever thumb lessened the pressure, but it was still too much. She tried again, gasping when he rewarded her with a flick of a finger against her clit.

 

            “Please, Kylo,” she whispered, her eyes wet, unable to bear it any longer. “I can’t.”

 

            Instantly contrite, Kylo sat up, his hands sliding over her hips, up her back, urging her forward so that her hands were braced on his shoulders. His mouth founds hers and he kissed her soothingly, murmuring endearments as his lips pressed gently against her cheeks. His restless hands skimmed up her ribs, palmed her sweet little breasts, and she gasped against his mouth, her hips undulating in reflex as he pinched a tender nipple. When his other hand once again moved down between them, Rey whined, her back arching and her nails digging marks into his shoulders. Kylo growled, fighting hard not just to spill himself inside her clenching heat. Taking a firm grip on her hips, he let himself fall back down, let her follow him.

 

            He thrust upwards just as he pushed her down those few, crucial inches, his cock finding _just_ the spot that had her _squealing_. Kylo grinned savagely as she ground down against him in involuntary response, meeting the drive of her hips with a thrust that had the slap of skin resound throughout the room.

 

            Rey sobbed, trying to hold on as he rocked up into her, the angle taking him so deep she could swear she could feel him in her throat. She raked her nails over his shoulders, his chest, her back arching and her thighs locking tight around him as she rode him. It was too much and yet it wasn’t enough; it hurt so much and yet she didn’t want him to stop; he was splitting her in two and yet she needed him harder . . .

 

            Kylo knew she was close, knew she was struggling for it with greedy, desperate impatience. He let her take, let her push them both wildly towards the edge, worshipping her with his body as she used him.

 

            Her second orgasm swept over her with the violence of a tidal wave and her world went dark as it took her down with an ecstasy so complete and overwhelming that it felt like death.

 

            Kylo watched her come apart, let her consume him and milk him dry. He was too spent to catch her as, for the second time that night, she tumbled down towards him in a mindless slump.

 

*

           

            Sensation and sense came back to Rey in segments. First the heavy, uneven breathing, the thunder of a heartbeat beneath her ear. Then the smell of sweat and musk, of loving. Then the feel of the hot, solid mass of bone and muscle beneath her, the heavy fingers that were bunched in her hair. It took a great deal of effort, but somehow Rey managed to raise her head.

 

            Kylo combed her tangled hair back from her face, cupped his hand around her smooth cheek. He could never seem to decide which Rey he liked best: the playful, bubbly girl who could never sit still and was constantly romping around; the vulnerable, cautious Rey he had come to see more clearly only recently; even the hostile, grumpy snipe she had been to him most of the year before had a great deal of appeal. But just then, passion-glazed, post-coital Rey was his favorite.  

 

            With a touch of pride and infinite tenderness, Rey took in the sated, languid look in Kylo’s eyes as he stared back at her, the glinting onyx beneath his long lashes reflecting only her. She bent her head to kiss him again, to revel in her victory over the shadows that had taken hold of him earlier.

 

            If he were not so enervated, Kylo would have complained when Rey stopped kissing him. But then she tucked herself into him, apparently intending to go to sleep on top of him, and the protest evaporated. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, shifted to accommodate her as she snuggled deeper into him, resting her head against the crook of his neck and wrapping her arms around his chest. She was too small to hold all of him, but with her straddling him and with her pert bottom in his hands, she managed to cast a warm, sultry net over the two of them that kept all the ugly things in the dark at bay.

 

            There would be a time to face those things. But not just now.

 

            Not tonight.

**Author's Note:**

> For the record, the book Kylo’s reading is actually _All the King’s Men_ by Robert Penn Warren, which I highly recommend if you haven’t read it yet. I just changed it to “Queen’s” because it’s AU and I feel like it. 
> 
> I’ve been mulling it over, and if I write past this I don’t think I’ll be able to get away with Kylo and Rey happily-ever-after-ing indefinitely. I mean, Snoke is bound to fuck things up between the two of them, right? So let’s just leave it here for now, haha. (I mean, I have a vague sketch of how it’s going to go, but I can’t commit as to when I’ll be able to write it out.) Meanwhile, I will be updating the Prequels to this and _Reaching You_ , which is cleverly “Part 2” of this series. It’s an ode to George Lucas. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it, haha.) Still welcoming prompts for the months of May to November! 
> 
> Feedback is very much appreciated! (I mean, seriously—your kind words actually got me to write this Sequel, which I swore to myself I wouldn’t do.) 
> 
> I hope everyone had a Happy Valentine’s Day! Until next time, love and light!


End file.
